That Trippi Show

Joe Biden has hit the roughest patch of his young presidency, combating the crisis in Afghanistan and very worrisome trends with COVID. Joe and Alex give their take on what's moving Biden's approval ratings and how they look in context. Plus, despite the FDA approving the Pfizer vaccine, Trump-lite governors in Florida and Texas continue to put their own citizens in danger with anti-mask and anti-...

Congressman Seth Moulton, Marine & member of the House Armed Services Committee, joins the pod to talk the situation in Afghanistan, what we need to be doing right now to save lives, and how you can help. Read Rep. Moulton's statement here: https://moulton.house.gov/press-releases/moulton-statement-on-the-situation-in-afghanistan This David Rohde piece in the New Yorker stood out to us: https://ww...

First, a look at some races that are flying under the radar -- governor's races. Governors of course have a massive impact on local politics -- just look at Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott -- but they also have a critical role in certifying elections. DeSantis (Florida), Evers (Wisconsin), and Georgia (Kemp) are all up in 2022 -- Joe wants to make sure Democrats are focused on these elections too (in...

On this special episode, Joe and Alex are joined by Norm Ornstein, Contributing Editor at the Atlantic and emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Norm gives his take on the rise of authoritarianism in mainstream Republicans, and how this time feels different even from the McCarthy era. Will congressional and party leadership be able to turn things around? How do you negotiate with...

Tucker Carlson is fighting for democracy ... in Hungary. Tucker met with Hungary's Prime Minister to discuss, among other things, how he built a wall, changed the judiciary, and rode anti-immigrant and anti-democracy waves to change the trajectory of a nation in short order. How revealing is this for the desires of the American Right? When will dalliances with authoritarianism become doctrine? The...

The Supreme Court's reputation as an apolitical body has been permanently changed. How did we get here? Jackie Calmes from the LA Times has studied the changes in Supreme Court politics that hit a new low during the Trump presidency. Despite two impeachments and a single term, Trump and the Republicans managed to reshape the Court for decades -- and it's possible Democrats have underestimated and...

After 6 months, President Biden did what Trump couldn't do in 4 years -- got an infrastructure bill through the Senate. A large bipartisan majority coming together for substantive change? What is going on? Alex and Joe unpack the progress made -- and not made -- to make big strides on infrastructure. Plus, Nancy Pelosi stopped the Jan. 6 commission from turning into a Jim Jordan-imbued circus, but...

Political risk... What is it? World-renowned defender of democracy Trygve Olson joins Joe this week to discuss his ideas on the risks of economic fallout faced by political action. In this episode, Joe and Trygve lay out the bigger implications we face if the U.S. doesn't denounce and fight the autocratic movement from the right. Trygve explains the American "fraud democracy" in comparison to othe...

Joe Biden called it. Democracy vs. autocracy. Sound familiar? Now it's on all of us to keep spreading the word. Joe and Alex talk about Biden's Philadelphia speech ("Have you no shame?") and how it reset the battlefield for everything we've been fighting for. Then they hit on the latest in Texas and the heroic protest staged by Democratic lawmakers, why the corporate pressure campaigns are so crit...

Joe announced this week that he'll be joining the Lincoln Project to help elect Democrats to fight the autocratic movement on the right. Steve Schmidt returns to talk to Joe about the cause and how if Democrats don't defeat Republicans, "we lose the country." He explains why the media, corporations and the public at large don't understand the stakes of allowing power to return to authoritarians. J...

Dan Gillmor, co-founder of Arizona State's News Co/Lab, is an expert on civil literacy and the role of journalism in our changing world. He joins the show to discuss the many changes to journalistic norms in the past few years and how to navigate a path forward. How should journalists cover politicians who intentionally and, sometimes dangerously, lie without consequence? What do former guardians...

Jon Macks has spent most of his career writing for comedians like Jay Leno and Chris Rock. But before he was writing jokes for The Tonight Show and The Academy Awards, he started out working in politics with Joe. Jon joins the show to discuss whether it's possible to lampoon people like Donald Trump or Marjorie Taylor Greene, how comedy writing and political speech writing flex a lot of the same m...

Joe is joined by Atlantic Senior Editor and CNN correspondent Ron Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) this week. The Republicans enjoy a structural advantage in the Senate, but that's amplified even more by the age and racial makeup of the American electorate at large. Ron explains why the Trump movement and the Nixon movements are similar, and what that means for the future of elections in the country. A...

Ezra Klein, author of Why We're Polarized and NYT podcaster and columnist, joins Joe and Alex for a fascinating discussion about polarization, how the two parties relate to each other, why disengaged voters are being pushed even further away, and what happens from here. Plus, Ezra dissects the unique importance of Joe Manchin, how rare he is in today's political climate, and how his strategy on ke...

Steve Schmidt, former Republican and co-founder of The Lincoln Project, joins Joe for a striking conversation about what's propelling the authoritarian movement forward in our country and how we can fight it. The conversation touches on the composition of the authoritarian movement, how to view the importance of the 2022 elections, the power of Fox and the right-wing propaganda machines, the likel...

A voicemail from a listener this past week got Joe thinking: instead of focusing on working together and Democrats winning elections, how can we focus on anything but the very real threat of authoritarianism? Joe argues bipartisanship can't work right now, because there is only room for one "party" in America right now -- an anti-authoritarian, pro-democracy party. Joe suggests all of us need to t...

National Security expert Max Boot joins Joe and Alex to talk about the staggering danger of the GOP's grasp of authoritarianism, and the impact of swing Democrat Joe Manchin backing away from voting rights legislation. They touch on the dangers of the poisonous conservative media ecosystem, how difficult it is to bridge the conversation between Americans of differing beliefs, the danger of failing...

Perhaps no one is more qualified to examine the current state of American politics than a political observer who happens to be a psychotherapist. Nick Carmody joins Joe and Alex to discuss how right-wing politicians and influencers have preyed on fears and misperception to heighten paranoia and the pervasive sense of danger on the right. He explains why the two sides in American politics are unabl...

Matthew Dowd, the chief strategist for President Bush's re-election campaign in 2004, sits down with Joe to discuss the decline of Republican principles, and how to move forward with the presence of Pres. Trump in the modern GOP. Also, a look ahead to the 2022 and 2024 races, who's standing out, and if some Democrats are too relaxed about their prospects in the midterm elections. Plus, Matthew rev...

Joe and Alex are joined by Greg Sargent of The Washington Post, author of "An Uncivil War" and the Plum Line blog. Greg joins for a somber conversation about the state of the GOP, including how low the bar has gotten in the Senate for Republicans to do the right thing. What does compromise look like in a world where pro-democracy Republicans are purged from the party? How do we hold the liars acco...

Joe and Alex have had it with today's GOP, which refuses to investigate the attack on themselves Jan. 6, while continuing audits in states around the country, insisting the election was stolen. It's quite a statement when the most serious politician we discuss on today's show may be Matthew McConaughey. Then, a new poll shows Trump leading all '24 candidates by a huge margin -- but he's only getti...

Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias has been fighting GOP-led voter suppression efforts for years. In the process, he may be single-handedly saving our republic. He tells Joe and Alex the status of the fight for voter rights, the GOP's dangerous motivation to continue voter suppression, and how we can all help. How will the GOP's right to fritter away the right to vote play out, and can it actuall...

First, Joe and Alex break down a race that just took place in the El Paso area, where the Democrats squandered a chance to compete in a district Trump only won by 3 points. While that seat was not one Democrats needed to count on, it was an opportunity, and Joe is worried about Democrats losing focus. Speaking of losing focus, Democrats are already getting excited about Charlie Crist running again...

Pres. Biden made history this week, addressing Congress for the first time with two women behind him. Joe and Alex break down the president's first address, plus the shift in conversation towards economic recovery, China and the end of trickle-down economics. Then, Joe and Alex touch on the redistricting news, and why some of it has a silver lining -- and some of it is devastating (89 NY'ers missi...

Joe and Alex are joined by Katherine Stewart, author of Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism. (Buy it here) We're all wondering how evangelicals can back Donald Trump, who embodies traits so antithetical to Christian values, and there's no one better to discuss that than Katherine Stewart. She talks about the role of fear in motivating Christian Nationalists, the i...